I debated whether or not to put Sophia’s birth story onto this blog but decided that I would. It is a memory that I cherish and would like to have it written down somewhere to look back upon. This is probably going to be a very long post!
Wednesday 13th February.
I woke up on Wednesday feeling as though I had slight tummy pains, almost like trapped gas. I mentioned it to James before he left for work but neither of us thought anything of it since I had been to the hospital for an appointment the day before where the doctor had examined me and told me that I wasn’t near to going into labour on my own and that she’d book me in for induction the following Monday.
James went off to work and I stayed in bed for a while. Within about an hour I started to notice cramps coming and going. They weren’t like anything I had felt before so I started timing them and found they were around 8 minutes apart.
Throughout the day I kept timing them and they steadily grew closer together and more painful. By 9:30pm I decided to phone labour and delivery to let them know. I remember that we were watching One Born Every Minute at the time. They asked me to come in to get checked over so we set off armed with our hospital bags.
Once at the hospital I was hooked up to a machine which monitored Sophia’s heartbeat and the contractions. I then had an internal exam and was told I was 1 to 2 cm dilated. I was quite surprised as I really thought that after my appointment the day before it wouldn’t be real labour. I was given some pain killers and sent home. They told me to phone back when the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting 40-60 seconds. By the time we got home it was around 1:30am Thursday morning.
Thursday 14th February
Once home we both got straight into bed to try to get as much rest as possible. However, I didn’t manage to get any sleep that night. My contractions were coming around 5-6 minutes apart and were really quite painful by this time.
In the morning I took a hot bath which soothed me a little but I was finding it quite hard to cope with the pain by this point. Some contractions were lasting around a minute and a half. I was still timing them and they were coming around 5 minutes apart. Though the hospital told me to phone back once the contractions were much closer together I decided to phone again for reassurance. They asked me to come back in.
At about 9:30am we got to the hospital and the midwife told me I was now 5cm dilated! I couldn’t believe how far I had got overnight and was glad I phoned when I did. We discussed our birth plan with Shelley, the lovely midwife I was assigned. I had wanted a water birth from the start with no drugs except gas and air but was now getting scared and starting to doubt my choice. Shelley was really supportive and helped me to remember why I was choosing a natural birth – for the best start for my little girl. She showed us down to the ‘Reflection Suite’ which was a large room with a bed, a birthing pool and sensory lighting. The wall had a scene of the sea and sunset on it and it really helped to relax me. Shelley brought in a CD player and put on an ‘easy listening’ CD for us to listen to and a birth ball for me to use.
For a few hours I used the ball and James and I chatted between contractions, I don’t think either of us could believe what was happening! Shelley came in every so often to listen to Sophia’s heartbeat and check we were ok. By about 1pm I asked to get into the pool as I felt the contractions getting really strong. She brought some scrubs in for James to wear as he had planned to join me in the water once I got to the pushing stage.
Once I hit the water I felt instant relief. The warm water was lovely! Shelley told us that she finished her shift at 3:30pm and really hoped she got to see Sophia being born. She asked us to get a vest, babygro and nappy ready and she wrote out the little tags to go around Sophia’s wrist and ankle. On it she wrote DOB 14.2.13.
By 3pm Shelley set up the gas and air for me to use as the contractions were now getting really strong and felt as though there were no breaks between each one. During this time James was giving me water, holding my hand and patting my face down with a cold flannel – I couldn’t have done it without him!
The time came for Shelley to leave and a new midwife came in along with a student. I don’t remember their names as things were a bit of a blur during this time. All I remember is looking at James and getting through the contractions. The new midwife would occasionally ask to listen to Sophia’s heartbeat. She also examined me to find that I was 10cm dilated.
At about 7pm I began to feel an urge to push. I remember the midwife saying something about lying on my side in the water because baby’s head was not at the right angle so I did as I was told. I carried on pushing with every contraction but didn’t feel like anything was happening. The midwife and James could see my waters and she decided to break them. I then heard the midwife say that there was a lot of meconium in my waters and that I’d have to come out onto the bed and get hooked up to the monitoring machine. By this time I was so tired I just remember saying to James “I want to go home.”
On the bed I carried on pushing for about an hour and a half and had another change of midwife, Carly. The contractions were much more painful when I was on the bed and the gas and air didn’t really take much of an edge off anymore, it just made me feel dizzy and out of things. I still felt as though when I was pushing nothing was happening.
At about 9pm a doctor came in and examined me. He told me that Sophia’s head was stuck at my cervix and that the only option would be a c-section. I felt really scared at this point but I was so tired and worried about Sophia that I just accepted the news. Carly started getting a gown onto me and James went to get into scrubs. The doctor was going through the procedure with me but my brain was numb. I remember signing some permission papers and was told that the theatre was being cleaned and we’d be next.
I lay on the bed, still feeling every contraction. This was the worst part as I was told to ‘save my energy for theatre’ so felt like I had to fight every contraction. It was an awful time. I remember looking over at James as he sat with his head in his hands looking completely helpless. Carly came back in and explained that there had been an emergency and that we had been pushed back for our surgery. I carried on contracting on the bed and towards the end I started pushing again, the urge was just too strong to fight.
Finally Carly came in with someone else and said they were ready for us in theatre. I was so relieved! They started wheeling me to the theatre when the emergency buzzer started going off and I saw midwives running past us. They then started wheeling me back to the room and I was crying and saying “no”.
I spent about another hour in the room and by this time I was begging for pain relief, the contractions were so intense. I was told that my baby wasn’t happy and that I had to lay on my left side and just use the gas and air.
Friday 15th February
Finally the theatre was ready for us again and off we went. James had to wait outside and as soon as we got into the theatre I was surrounded by lots people, each doing different jobs. The anaesthetist gave me a spinal and as I felt a warm feeling going down my legs I felt so much relief. I quickly lost all feeling from my waist down. I remember that the spinal made me very shaky.
James came back in and the surgeon told us that he was going to try for a forceps delivery as the contractions I had been having in the run up to surgery had been helping to push her head down. I was told to push with every contraction and as I did heard people saying “well done she’s coming” and “we can see her head, she’s got hair”. After 2 pushes the surgeon said to me “Bethany, on the next push you’re going to have your baby.” This made me push as hard as I could and seconds later Sophia was put onto my chest at 0:45am.
I remember she felt so warm and though she was moving around she wasn’t crying. I looked at James who was crying. Carly took Sophia to clean her up and when she was put onto the little examination table she started grabbing the stethoscope! She was then handed back to James. He put Sophia into his scrubs and onto his chest to keep her warm. After a while she was back onto my chest and began to feed for a few minutes. I couldn’t stop staring at her and kept saying “she’s perfect”.
After I had been stitched up James, Sophia and I were put in the recovery room where we had tea and toast, I think it was the best meal I’ve ever eaten! We stayed there for a while before being moved up to the maternity ward at around 4:30am.
We waved James off and spent our first night together. I got no sleep as I couldn’t stop looking at Sophia, wondering how we had created something so beautiful.
